Page 248 of Seasons of Love
"Oh baby, that's great news."
I burrowed into his strong chest and nodded. His arms went around me instantly. When I was with Vítor, I felt invincible, like I was soaring.
After a few days, the excitement of knowing where Afonso was and that he was okay was quickly replaced with the frustration of not having him with me already.
I ran to my phone as soon as I heard the ringtone I used for Fred.
"Fred, any news?"
"Hi, Tiago. Some, but not the kind you'll like. Afonso was in touch. Apparently, there's going to be a party at the house, so they're moving the kids. We haven't had enough notice to intercept, but I managed to get an invite to the party because one of their big players is out of the country on business."
"How did you manage to get the invite?"
There was silence on the other side.
"Tiago, I…"
"That's okay, I know you can't tell me. Please, Fred, be safe."
If I was already anxious, after Fred's call I was close to panic, so it was a good thing Vítor had arrived home early from work. I went to the kitchen where Vítor was cooking dinner, turned off all the burners on the stove, and pulled him toward the bedroom.
"Vítor, I need you," I said, pushing him onto the bed and trying to get rid of his shirt at the same time.
"What's up, baby?"
"I'll tell you later. Please, Vítor."
19
VÍTOR
As much as I was happy to let Tiago lose himself in me, it also worried me that whatever news he'd got from Fred was bad enough to put him in this state.
Unfortunately, I'd had to wait until the next day to hear it since Tiago had exhausted us both to such an extent that we'd fallen asleep straight after finding our joint release.
As Fred and his team worked on the new intelligence they'd gathered at the party, Tiago was getting more and more impatient. He wasn't eating properly, and he wouldn't sleep in the hope Fred might call with news that they were ready to carry out the rescue.
It all came to a head when Tiago had been called by Fred's team to talk about the plans for the center and to make sure now that the center was open, they could still go ahead as planned. He'd ended up watching some of the surveillance with them. I'd been called to pick him up because he was too distressed to drive after seeing Afonso's bruised face on the screen. Fred went mad at the team because he hadn't been there and wasn't able to either warn Tiago or to stop him from seeing his brother after he'd clearly been beaten to a pulp.
I couldn't stand seeing him suffer like that, so I'd spoken to the partners at work and arranged to take a few days off to take Tiago to Porto for a break. I knew it would take a lot of convincing to get him away, but Fred had agreed it would do him good, and he reassured me that nothing was happening until we came back.
The first part of the plan was to catch him by surprise, so I left work early and headed to the center to take him out to lunch. My workload had grown considerably in the last few weeks, so despite discussing with Tiago about volunteer opportunities, I hadn't actually been to the center.
There was a guy working at one of the desks when I walked in. The other desk, which I assumed was Tiago's, was empty. The guy told me Tiago had gone out for a meeting with the city council, but if I wanted to wait, I could go to the back garden. I'd heard great things about this garden from Tiago, so I decided to check it out.
I was directed to follow the corridor leading to the kitchen. I wasn't expecting to find anyone in the kitchen, so I stopped in my tracks when I saw a guy standing by a kitchen island surrounded by bags of flour, sugar, and various other ingredients.
"Hey, sorry, I didn't know there was anyone here. I'm just on my way to the garden."
"Hi, no problem. Sorry if I scared you. The garden is through that door." He pointed at the double doors behind him. "Are you one of the new volunteers? I haven't seen you around here before."
"Oh no, I'm not a volunteer yet. My name's Vítor." I extended my hand, but the guy stilled and stared at me like I was a ghost. I was about to take my hand back when he recovered from his strange moment and shook it back.
"You're Tiago's boyfriend."
"I am. I bet I'm not what you expected."
He shook his head. "You're exactly what I expected. Hi, I'm David. I'm Tiago's friend."
